Cobalt encounters no oil in Angola well test

19 April 2013, Luanda – US firm, Cobalt International Energy, said it was unable to encounter oil in a drillstem test of a well in the Kwanza Basin off Angola.
Cobalt said a drillstem test of Cameia-2 in the country’s Block 21 “did not produce measurable hydrocarbons” and is being temporarily abandoned.
But, , the US independent said the probe discovered an interval with production potential.
The result does not have a bearing on the commercialty of the Cameia Mound development project, said the company, which is still working to advance the project.
The company has previously said it is targeting first oil at the project in 2016.
The news comes as a blow to the company whose gamble on deepwater Angola paid off with the Cameia-1 discovery, which tested at 5010 barrels per day of 44 degrees API crude.
“While I am disappointed this deep interval did not flow oil to the surface, I am encouraged by this interval’s potential for significant flow rates across the basin. This information is important as we continue the evaluation of the Kwanza Basin pre-salt’s upside potential,” Cobalt chief exploration officer James Farnsworth said in a statement.
“In addition, as we previously announced, Cameia-2 confirmed the extension of the same exceptional mound reservoir as seen in Cameia-1.”